Green Team

Thanks, Goodweed! When I got home on Saturday DH showed me a letter written by several members about signing a petition to stop the compost bins. I of course have no intention of signing it. And reading about the red worm boxes, this may be an answer for us. We can just keep it in our yard. I will spend some of my vast down time doing a little research!

Red worm boxes (kits available on-line) are completely odor-free and do the same job as compost bins, but much more quickly as the worms eat and digest the veggie matter, egg shells, grass clippings etc., and then turn them into slow release, nitrogen and nutrient rich worm casings, which are nature's best natural fertilizers. Do just a little research and the advantages become obvious. Plus, you can keep them right in your own home if you want.

But the bins are a great start.

Don't know how I got bumped out of the group but, oh well I am back, so it doesn't matter.

We just got a letter from our Management Group stating that they are going to be putting in composting boxes in certain areas of the grounds and they will be maintained by the grounds keepers. There will be one fairly close to us which is great. We had two at home and I miss being able to thrown the coffee grounds, egg shells, etc. in them. As for my veggie ends I use them for stock first but after I have boiled the life out of them they too will make it to the compost! Some people are complaining about the potential smell, but if looked after properly I have never found this a problem. I think it is great!

We have a similar thing here called Homeowners Associations. Even though you own your own home, by law you must abide by the Association rules.

Sattie, We own a townhouse that is actually leasehold, not strata. Strata means that you own your unit and not the land and everyone in the complex votes on the community rules. In a leasehold, the land is "leased" for 99 years. Again we own our unit, but instead of having voting rights we are subject to the rules of the lease. The reason we can't hang laundry outside is they "don't want it to look like a tenament slum" (actual words in the lease in regards to laundry, items on patios and balconies, curtains or blinds that are coloured instead of all white, etc.)

sattie, we have birds too! Loads of them (too many nesting in the eves of the house)I can't tell you the last time I had tht problem though, we use a rotary line rather than a straight long one, I remember vaguely it happened more with a long line. ;)

Hanging outside is banned in some UK locations too, usually appartments or big areas of listed buildings/villages where sightliness is vital...but people break the rules. :)

Oh wow... what a great idea!!! Ok, so why are you not allowed to hang laundry outside???? What is strata rules?

Sattie, we are not allowed to hang laundry outside because of strata rules. What I do is hang it in the bathroom and have the vent fan going. I spray a little non-aerosal vanilla room freshener towards the fan and the clothes and they turn out great!

Thanks for the tips GW!!

Well, my green move for the week will be doing away with my fridge in the garage. (Kinda green, kinda need to save money on the electric bill!) But the fridge in the garage really does not hold anything except booze and overflow from my indoor freezer.

Indoor freezer is being replace by a slightly bigger freezer. The fridge out in the garage is old, and I'm sure not very energy efficient. It is being donated to the salvation army.

lulu... would love to air dry my clothes, but hanging them outside is just out of the question. Too many birds in the area and I would suspect bird doo on all my clothes. I have been trying to use the air dry option on the dryer, but have not quite got hubby warmed up to that idea yet!